{"id":35,"date":"2026-05-14T15:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2026-05-14T15:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:06:22","slug":"alaska-lawmakers-raise-education-lawsuit-conflict-concern-for-attorney-general-designee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Alaska lawmakers raise education lawsuit conflict concern for attorney general designee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As Alaska state lawmakers consider Gov. Mike Dunleavy\u2019s pick for attorney general, several have questioned a potential conflict between his involvement with a private, religious school and his role in the state\u2019s top legal office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature considers exempting some Native corporations from public disclosure<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephen Cox currently leads the Alaska Department of Law, which is defending the state in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of spending state homeschool funds on religious and private school tuition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He is also the treasurer and a founding member of the Thomas More Classical School, a private Christian school for grades Kindergarten through sixth grade, slated to open in <\/span>Anchorage in the fall<\/span>, whose website invites the use of state homeschool funding for nonreligious courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox has served in the role since his appointment in August, and appeared before lawmakers in <\/span>a series of legislative hearings<\/span> last week and Monday, ahead of a confirmation vote for attorney general, expected in the next week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. L\u00f6ki Tobin, D-Anchorage, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, noted the apparent conflict between the state constitution and the school\u2019s financial plans at a <\/span>May 1 hearing<\/span>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur constitution directly says \u2018schools and institutions so established shall be free of sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or private education institution,\u2019\u201d she read.<\/span><\/p>\n

She pointed to his role as treasurer as a direct conflict with the state constitution because the school\u2019s \u201ctuition assistance\u201d web page said it anticipates accepting payment through state allotment funds for courses \u201cthat do not use religious-based publishers and\/or content.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit that will decide whether that spending is constitutional is currently underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox said he was not aware of the school\u2019s tuition information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am on the board of that school. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations,\u201d he said, adding that he was involved in hiring a headmaster and the formation of the school. \u201cI am not aware of that part of the website and I\u2019m also not aware of any decisions with respect to allotment programs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He declined to comment further saying the issue was in active litigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each homeschooled student is eligible for up to $4,500 per year, to be spent on curriculum, supplies or other educational resources. But the question on whether that money can go toward religious or private institutions is currently being decided.<\/span><\/p>\n

A group of parents brought the lawsuit to prohibit state money from going to such institutions against the state in 2023, and a judge ruled the <\/span>allotment system unconstitutional<\/span> in 2024, but that ruling <\/span>was overturned<\/span> by the Alaska Supreme Court. The case moved back to a lower court \u2014 <\/span>four school districts<\/span> were named as defendants \u2014 and last fall a judge <\/span>denied a motion to dismiss<\/span> the lawsuit, citing need for evidence of how allotments are actually spent. A discovery period for both sides to collect evidence is open until June 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At <\/span>a Monday hearing<\/span> before the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Ted Eischeid, D-Anchorage, pressed the question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that mean that under Alaska ethics law, you would recuse yourself about decisions that might benefit your school, financially related to public money going to private schools?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox answered a slightly different question. He told lawmakers, for background, he had already looked into the question of recusal given his three children are homeschooled through the Anchorage School District\u2019s correspondence program, Family Partnership Correspondence School. He said that he was advised it wasn\u2019t necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe advice that I received back from my ethics supervisor after an analysis was that it was not a reason for recusal, because I think there are, like, 25,000 Alaskan students that benefit from the allotment, and so the fact that my kids benefit in piano class and tutoring and whatnot wasn\u2019t itself a reason to recuse,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska prosecutors charge man with multiple felonies for allegedly starting summer 2025 wildfire<\/a><\/p>\n

Cox is Catholic, and is a parishioner at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Anchorage, according to the <\/span>school\u2019s website<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox said he learned that the Thomas More Classical School was anticipating receiving allotment funds during confirmation hearings last week.\u00a0 He said he was not directly involved with the state\u2019s defense in the lawsuit and that he would seek ethics advice about recusing himself from the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will say that I\u2019m not involved in any of the day-to-day litigation, or even really any of the supervision of the strategic litigation,\u201d he added. \u201cRecently, last week, I learned for the first time that on the website, there was a reference to the school anticipating becoming a vendor <\/span>of the correspondent school allotment programs. So I have asked my staff to take another look at that from a recusal perspective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the tuition information <\/span>on the school\u2019s website<\/span> had been changed. It now says\u00a0 that it still anticipates taking allotment money, but only in accordance with state law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the hearing on Monday, Eischeid asked Cox if the school planned to receive public allotment funds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox said the issue is being litigated in court now, and whether it\u2019s constitutional has yet to be determined.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be very careful, because this is in active litigation, and these are the issues that the judge and the judges ultimately will have to grapple with,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as I understand it, the school districts and their correspondence schools \u2014 so for example, ASD\u2019s correspondent schools, Family Partnership \u2014\u00a0 the school districts will decide whether or not and to what extent the allotment can be used for private educational or private institutions, and vendors.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox said when a court rules on the question, the Thomas More Classical School will follow the law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, noted that the Thomas More Classical <\/span>school board president<\/span> is Charles Gartland, who is also\u00a0 working at the Alaska Department of Law as the civil division director.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWould he need to recuse from any cases dealing with allotments and private schools?\u201d Gray asked?<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox said he has asked the department\u2019s ethics lawyers to research the question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would assume that the same analysis that existed for me would also apply with respect to Mr. Gartland,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I do not have an answer on that question yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Officials with Alaska Department of Law did not return a request for comment on Tuesday on how decisions on recusal are made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gray said Monday there appeared to be a conflict of interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it\u2019s all above board, as a member of the public, I see that, and I think that I would be more comfortable if the chairman of the board of a private school and the treasurer of the board of the private school wouldn\u2019t work on those particular cases,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month under new law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Cox is the treasurer and founding member of a new private Christian school in Anchorage, scheduled to open in the fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaska lawmakers raise education lawsuit conflict concern for attorney general designee - Moving to Alaska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=35\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaska lawmakers raise education lawsuit conflict concern for attorney general designee - 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